Various - Kill Bill Vol 1. (Music From The Film)

Quentin Tarantino has earned a reputation as a director for whom a quirky soundtrack is as essential as an unconventional script. Not surprisingly, the songs heard in Tarantino's fourth film, Kill Bill, are as eclectic as anything found on Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs.

The soundtrack follows a subtly Far East theme for this homage to the martial arts flicks Tarantino adores. Kill Bill tells the tale of a betrayed assassin (Uma Thurman) who seeks vengeance against her former co-workers (Lucy Liu, Vivica Fox, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen) and, ultimately, her boss, Bill (David Carradine). Fellow kung fu enthusiast RZA of the Wu Tang Clan offers "Ode to Oren Ishii," which nods to the plot amid a bed of swelling orchestration, and Tomoyasu Hotei's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" is a thunderous collision of brassy horns that captures the intensity of the fight sequences.

Elsewhere, Tarantino flavors the soundtrack with other nostalgic musical preferences, including Nancy Sinatra's cover of Sonny Bono's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and Dixieland trumpeter Al Hirt's instrumental "Green Hornet," which incorporates more than a little bit of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee." Other tasty quirks include Santa Esmeralda's sweeping, disco-flamenco take on "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," rockabilly legend Charlie Feathers's chugging "That Certain Female," and pan flute master Zamfir's ethereal instrumental "The Lonely Shepherd."

With the requisite movie dialogue featuring Thurman and Carradine slipped in between songs, Kill Bill is the sprawling collection of hip musical references that Tarantino fans have come to expect.

Heavyweight vinyl produced by A Band Apart Records in 2024.

TRACKLISTING:

A1 Nancy Sinatra – Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
A2 Charlie Feathers – That Certain Female
A3 Luis Bacalov – The Grand Duel (Parte Prima)
A4 Bernard Herrmann – Twisted Nerve
A5 Lucy Liu and Julie Dreyfus – Queen Of The Crime Council
A6 The RZA – Ode To Oren Ishii
A7 Isaac Hayes – Run Fay Run
A8 Al Hirt – Green Hornet
A9 Tomoyasu Hotei – Battle Without Honor Or Humanity

Santa Esmeralda Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood / Esmeralda Suite
B1a – Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
B1b – Esmeralda Suite
B2 The 5.6.7.8's – Woo Hoo
B3a The RZA – Crane
B3b Charles Bernstein – White Lightning
B4 Meiko Kaji – The Flower Of Carnage
B5 Zamfir – The Lonely Shepherd
B6 Uma Thurman, David Carradine and Julie Dreyfus – You're My Wicked Life